m¡longa – an alternative take on tango at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

Taking to the stage in m¡longa – an alternative take on tango are five tango couples from Buenos Aires, each with their own idiosyncratic dancing style, plus a pair of contemporary dancers and five Argentinian tango musicians. Award-winning choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui takes the idea of a traditional milonga, those social dancing evenings in intimate late-night bars in Buenos Aires, and puts it in a new context. This produces a fascinating exploration of tango for the 21st century, performed for the first time in Norway.

«All my works are about relationships, and in tango I saw some sort of magic happening in the way people communicate,» says Cherkaoui, who travels the world to work with dancers from different cultures.

«Simply through touch, these couples can tell each other all sorts of things.» He has won many awards, has twice been named Best Choreographer by the magazine Ballet Tanz, and in 2012 he was responsible for the choreography in Joe Wright's film of Anna Karenina.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui works regularly with Norwegian dancers Guro Schia and Vebjørn Sundby.